Tire-valve attachment.



Hx F. CRAWFORD TIRE VALVE ATTACHMENT. 4APPLICATION men MAR. 9. 191s'.

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' mouth of the nipple when the cap is screwed TIRE-VALVE ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters atent.

PatentedJuIy 11, 1916.

Application led March 9, 1916. Serial No. 83,061.

To all Iw hom t may concern Be it known that I, HARVEY F. CRAW- roun, a citizen of the United States, residing atv Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and vState of lliassachusetts, have-invented new and useful Improvements in Tire-Valve Attachments, of which the following is a valve mechanism. A common way of pre-A venting the escape of air when a valve fails to prevent leakage is to provide the reduced outer end or nipple of the valve casing with a cap having in its crown av packing disk or washer of rubber or soft material adapted to be pressed upon the annular end 'or down. This expedient has not been found satisfactory, for, even under the most favorable conditions, little more than circular line contact between the nipple mouth and packing is afforded; and when the disk becomes worn unevenly or cut Vby the nipple mouth, the Contact is so poor as to be practically 4useless for preventing the passage of air from the nipple.

rI`he object of the present invention is to provide means more effective than those now in use for preventing escape of air from the nipple. In the attainment of this object I provide, instead of the usual rubberdisk or washer, a tube of soft rubber or similar flexible or elastic material embracing the nipple, and a metal cap adapted to be screwed upon the valve body and formed internally to radially compress said tube upon the nipple and thus form an elongated sealed joint which prevents the leakage of air along the periphery of the nipple.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification; Figure 1 repre.

sents in side elevation the outer portion or body of a tire valve casing, including the nipple, and. in section a cap and a packing tube embodying my invention, applied to the nipple and body; Fig. 2represe'nts a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal section of the cap; Fig. 4 represents a longitudinalsection of the tube; Fig. 5 represents a view similar to Fig. l, showing a n'lodiiication; Fig. 6 represents a sectional view of the tubeforined as shown by Fig. 5.

The same reference characters indicate similar parts wherever they occur.

Referring to the draWingsZ-IO 'represents the body of a valve casing, and 10e the reduced outer end or nipple thereof, said nipple being preferably externally screwthreaded for the attachmentof tire-iniating means. The valve body l0 is externally screw-threaded to engage a metal cap 1l. The cap is closed at its outer end by a crown 11a, and the elongated socket formed bly the interior of the cap has a tapered portion 12, and a threaded portion 12L adapted to engage the external thread of the body 10. The tapered portion 12 is of gradually increasing diameter from the crown 11LL to the threaded portion 12a. The valve body l() commonly used with automobile tires is provided with diametrically opposite facedofi' or flat portions for engagement by a wrench, one such faced-oft' or fiat portion being shown at 10b.

13 represents a compressible tube, preferably of soft 'rubber or similar material hav-v ing flexibility and elasticity. Said tube is formed to embrace the nipple l0.a and to be radially compressed thereon by the tapered internal surface l2 of the cap when the cap is screwed to place on the body 10.- The tube 13 is preferably closed at one end by a solid dome or crown 13, and its tubular wall is preferably of such length that it is adapted to abutl against the annular shoulder 10 at the outer end of the body 10. The under portion of the crown l3-has a recess 13b so located'as to receive the upper end of the usual valve pin or spindle 14, which,

when depressed, removes the 'valve from its seat to deflate the tire. the recess 12" avoids'contact of the crown with the pin 14.

The tube 13 is preferably externally tapered, as shown by Fig. 4, and is so proportioned that when forced into the socket of the capv 11, it will be somewhat compressed by the taperingportion of said socket before the cap is screwed'to place o'n the body 10.

After the tire hasbeen inflated, the capI 11 containing the tube '13 is screwed onto the valve body 10, and as it travels downwurdly its tapered internal portion 12 acts The provision of shorter than the nipple 10a,

`pressed by the cap crown u mouth, and the inner end to radially compress the tube 13 against the periphery of the nipple 10i, thus forming an elongated tight joint preventing the leakage of vair along the periphery of the nipple. The radial compression of the tube alone suliicient to create a tight joint, so that the tube may be open at both ends and l as shown by Figs. 5 and 6, where the tube by 130.

I prefer to form the tube as shown 'by Figs. l and 4 however, the crown 13a being of the tube being pressed at the same time against the shoulder l0, so that tight joints are lformed at the mouth and base of the nipple.t

The screw-thread on the nipple y10il increases the tightness of the joint by presentf ing a corrugated `surface that offers greater j resistance to the escape of air when the tube is pressed radially against it than would a plain cylindrical surface.

Having described my invention, I claim:

having an externally threaded body, a freducednipple at its outer end, and an annular shoulder between the body and nipple,

of a metal cap containing a longitudinalv is designated against the 'nipple l. The'cOmbinatOn with a valve casingI nular shoulder between the body and nipple,

of aI metal cap containing a longitudinal socket having a tapered portion and an internally threaded portion below the tapered portion to engage the external thread of the casing body, the said rounding the nippleand being separated tapered portion surl l therefrom by an annular taperingspace, and

a compressible tube embracing the nipple, radially compressed thereon and seated on said shoulder by the tapering wall of the cap socket.

3. The combination with a valve casing having an externally threaded body, .a reduced nipple at its outer end, and an annular shoulder betwen the body and nipple,4 of a metal cap containing a longitudinal socket which at its is internally threaded lower portion to engage the external thread of the casing body, and a compressible tube embracing the nipple and having a crown at its outer end compressed upon the mouth of the nipple, the tube being of greater length than the nipple, so that its open end is compressed, upon said shoulder.

4. The combination with a valve casing having an externally threaded body,'a reduced nipple at its outer end, and an annular shoulder between the body and nipple; of a rigid cap containing a longitudinal socket having a tapered portion and an internally threaded portion below the tapered portion to engage the external thread of the casing ody, and a compressble member-.embracing the nipple, said compressible member having tapering walls increasing in thickness as they extend toward said annular shoulder. n v

In testimony whereof I4 have affixed my signature. f

HARVEY F. CRAWFORD. 

